A/N: Hey everybody! I wrote this chapter while deeply under the influence of French 75. I had no conscious awareness of where this was going but I like it here. As a first time fan fic writer, I feel exhilarated!!! I hope you all are already for the twists and turns my mind conjures up...
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MICHONNE
A chance meeting or destiny? Michonne meets Amethyst and begins to question her entire family unit. Who is this woman? Why does she make Michonne feel this way?
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"Come out, you." Michonne smiled as she rubbed her protruding belly. 9 months pregnant. Her and Rick never made it a point to be careful. Not since their vow to improve civilization. But to conceive a child during the hardest parts of both their lives, it made Michonne chuckle.
"My escape baby." She teased. Life since the fall of the CRM has been peaceful. Normal. She thinks back to her pregnancy with Andre and her bonus son, Carl.
"Hi baby boys! It's been a little while since we spoke. Mommy misses you. But it's ok because I know you're watching over your siblings: Judith, Rj, and baby Grimes. I know you would have been amazing big brothers, driving Judith crazy with over protection and teasing Rj at every turn as he tried to be like you bothâ" Michonne paused, fighting tears as she had her conversation with her late sons. She missed them deeply and dearly. "Anyway! Mommy loves you. I'll talk to you soon. Tell your baby brother or sister to hurry."
Just as Michonne ended her conversation with her deceased sons, she heard commotion at the gates that caused a stir in her and her baby.
"Hurry! Open the gates! She needs help!" Cries of urgency made her move a little faster, as fast as she could under the circumstances.
Why today, she wondered. It had been 8 months since any incidents at the Commonwealth. She was ready for war but what would Rick think. His wife, pregnant with his child again. He would never let her participate in battle.
"Your daddy is going to be so mad" she stated as she rubbed her belly, readying her katana for whatever lied on the other side of the gates.
"She's bleeding! We have to save the baby!" Michonne sees a woman and a man entering the gate, the woman now passed out from exhaustion and pain. "Oh God!" Michonne sees her very pregnant belly with a long gash across her stomach, plummeting her back to a past she long wishes to forget.
She falls to her knees breathing heavily as thoughts of being chained and tortured by a friend overtake her.
Rj.
Judith.
Pain sears across her abdomen and she cries out. "Aaaaggghhhhhhhh!" Ezekiel runs over to Michonne, worry ridden across his face.
"Her water broke! There's blood! Hurry up and get her to the hospital!" He says just as Michonne passes out from the pain.
Someone stop the baby from crying, Michonne thinks. No one should be left in agony.
It's okay baby, she thought, someone will come and get you.
"Come say hi to mama." Michonne sees Rick, blurred but clear to her heart, walk over with a small human wrapped in a blanket. He shushes the child while leaning over her.
"Say hi mama. I'm Mj." Michonne lets off a weak smile, excited she has a girl. Baby Michonne. She's tired, exhausted, and weak. Rick placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and her lips. "You did great baby. She's perfect. She's us."
Michonne stared at her perfect daughter. Her memory fades in and out but somehow she remembers the slight fear of almost losing her.
Ezekiel rushed her to the hospital and soon Rick was there too. So many lights, worried faces. It scared her. Her eyes searched and found Rick, his hand in hers as she squeezed with all her might.
"Michonne, just breathe. The doctor said the baby is breech. They're gonna try to turn the baby" Rick said as he planted a kiss on her sweaty forehead. His voice was calm but his eyes showed that he was afraid.
"It's...ok" Michonne reassured him through her own pain.
"I don't wanna lose the baby...I can't lose the baby OR you." Tears filled his eyes. More reassuring words were on her lips but she passed out before she could speak.
Michonne reached her arms out ready to embrace her child. She looks into her eyes. Cerulean blue, just like her daddy. Her skin was pale but she could tell by the browning in her ears she would be a darker hue. Thank God, she thought. Rj was so much like Rick she thought she was simply an incubator for little Rick Grimes's.
At least she'd be close to my skin tone, chuckling to herself.
"I'm gonna go check on Judith and Rj. They're so excited to meet their baby sister." Rick kissed her softly on her lips, letting out a groan that stirred her insides and also caused her pain.
"You better go before she has another sibling on the way, Grimes" Michonne teased.
"Thank you" he whispered against her lips. He didn't need elaborate. Rick vowed to thank her for all the moments he pushed her away, all the moments he was afraid to ask about Rj, all the moments the CRM made him forget Carl. He thanked her daily. She didn't need it but she knew he did so she never protested.
"I'll be right back" he promised before leaving the room.
She heard a small cry. It wasn't Mj. There in the other bed, she recognized the woman from the gates earlier holding a child. She looked terrified, unsure, lost.
Afraid.
"What's her name?" Michonne asked. The woman looked up with tears in her eyes, shocked. Michonne wasn't sure if the woman could speak, or would speak. A long pregnant pause lay between them.
"Ruby" she croaked. As she spoke, tears fell from her eyes. Michonne fought hard to keep her own from falling. She instantly remembered the fatal wound of the woman just before her own labor.
What has she endured?
"Ruby is a beautiful name. What's yours?" The woman looked around, eyes wild with fear. Michonne worried she would leave, jeopardizing the safety of her baby and herself. She never let her eyes leave hers, willing the woman to see she was okay, she was safe with her.
Her eyes settled onto Michonne. Her breathing calmed and she visibly relaxed.
Thank God.
"Amethyst...my mom was a wannabe hippie. Into crystals and what not. Her middle name was Ruby..." The woman's eyes went to a far away place. Michonne recognized she was trapped in a memory, walking the halls of pain and despair. "She died right before I went into labor. I never understood her but I loved her..." Amethyst's voice trailed, a single tear rolling down her right cheek.
Michonne felt tears rolling down her own face. Maybe it was the hormones. Maybe it was thoughts of her own estranged relationship with her mom that never repaired before the world ended. She wiped her face reluctantly, rocking baby Mj to sleep.
"What's your name?" asked Amethyst.
Pure, innocent, searching. Her wild eyes searched Michonne in a way that made Michonne feel exposed. Uncomfortable. Vulnerable. No one has ever looked at her that way except him.
My Rick.
And yet, this stranger saw her. Saw through her.
Interesting...
"Michonne Grimes. And this little one is Michonne Grimes, Jr. or Mj." Mj cooed at the sound of her name as if pleased that her parents gave her the name she deserved. She liked it.
"That's pretty." Amethyst paused for what felt like an eternity. Michonne thought the conversation was over before Amethyst spoke again.
"I guess our girls are twins then" she half joked, uncertain and slightly frightened.
"I guess they are." Michonne did her best to present a soothing tone but she was exhausted. She would have to have Ezekiel and Rick explain how this woman came to be in their presence. And who was the man with her? Why wasn't he here?
"My brother, Alexander," as if reading Michonne's mind, "he's all I have. He's resting. I'm told he passed out once he saw I was crowning" she chuckled. Michonne chuckled too. She liked her and she didn't know why. There was no time to explore as sleep overtook the both of them.
"I can't wait to meet him" Michonne uttered, barely awake.
"Same."
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Michonne awoke sweating, panting, frantically searching for Mj before she realized it was just a dream. Mj lay in her bassinet, sleeping soundly.
She's safe.
Michonne allowed herself to calm down from the physical panic of her past. Of Jocelyn.
"So what happened?" Michonne was startled by her companion. She stared at her in confusion. Amira? Amy?
"Am--" Michonne tried to remember.
"Amethyst. So what happened? You were talking in your sleep, and not the sexy talk. Since our babies are twins we might as well get to know one another." She stated plainly.
Who is this woman? She's bolder now than she was yesterday. Did I misread her?
"Nothing" Michonne replied. This was a stranger in her house. She asked the questions. She decided who stayed and who left. "What happened to you? I saw the...the injury." Michonne barely got the sentence out.
These hormones!
She picked up Mj, holding her close, smelling her and needing to feel her life in her hands, knowing all she went through to get to her father and create her along the way.
"The father, my ex boyfriend, decided he didn't want a baby in the apocalypse" Amethyst stated coldly.
Michonne kissed her daughter's forehead as she turned around to truly see this stranger, startled by her sudden shift in tone and energy.
Is she dangerous, Michonne wondered. She recognized the coldness in her voice because she herself had to speak in that same language, words laced with death on the tongue.
Michonne studied her; her curly hair cascaded past her shoulders. Her eyes, a rich honey brown, like cognac, yet sad. Her skin, the color of mahogany. She looked toned. Fit. Athletic once upon a time maybe.
Who is this girl? She doesn't look dangerous but then again...
"I thought he changed his mind, you know" Amethyst continued, interrupting Michonne's thoughts "once we got closer to birth. He was attentive, nurturing, treated me like a princess..." her eyes dropped. Michonne saw her chest stop, physically holding her breath as it pained her to tell her story. Slowly, Amethyst released a shaky breath. "Turns out, he never did. While I was asleep he...he came into the room and tried to kill our baby and--"
"Don't!" whispered Michonne. She didn't know why this woman felt the need to tell her but she could tell it was hard. Could she even handle what was next. "You don't have to--"
"My mom woke up and saw him attacking me..." The energy in the room shifted. Heavy. Thick. Sad. "She died protecting me and her granddaughter." Amethyst looked lost, withdrawn, her voice was thick with grief.
"I'm sorry" Michonne croaked. She took deep breaths, remembering the betrayal of Mike that led to Andre's death. She understood the pain even if it wasn't exactly the same.
"An old friend, from another life, before...This...kidnapped my daughter, tried to kill my unborn child at the time, and had children brand me during torture." Michonne blurted.
She didn't understand why she said what she said, but it felt good to get it out. "Well don't just stare at me."
Amethyst stared at Michonne, wide eyed, mouth open. She wasn't sure what she thought. She was hard to read that way. Even Amethyst's surprised stare was unreadable. But Michonne still felt she could tell her this painful story.
"I had to kill her...Kill all the children..." Michonne heard Amethyst let out a small gasp. "It was the worst day of my life. I love children but...what she did to them, it wasn't right...they weren't...right."
"Jocelyn?" Amethyst asked, barely audible.
Michonne was stunned, mouth and eyes as wide as her face could manage. Did she hear her clearly?
"How do you know?" she whispered.
Amethyst hung her head low. This was the first time Michonne saw a crack in her armor. She studied her, her breathing quickened, looking as though she would pass out.
"Amethyst! Look at me. In through the nose, out through the mouth." Amethyst followed the breathing pattern of Michonne until she calmed down.
Amethyst stared at Michonne with her cognac eyes, a blank expression on her face. She stared for what seemed like a lifetime before she whispered. "She was...she was my sister. Half sister. I'm sorry."
Michonne sat stunned, too stunned to speak, realizing one more thing she didn't know about her psychotic friend from college.
"I had...I had to." Michonne stuttered. Up until now, she'd never felt guilty. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was reassure this woman that she was sorry for killing her sister. But also she was very confused and angry.
Who in the hell is this girl?!
"She wasn't always like that. She used to speak about her friend, Michonne, when she would come out to see me. All the stories you shared, boys, school, parties. I felt like I was a part of your clique...We shared the same dad. When she went off to school it was easier for her to see me without our moms getting involved. After everything happened, you know, she changed...She saved some kids who were trapped in their classrooms at the school she volunteered at. When she started losing them, she started to go crazy. She was hell bent on teaching them how to survive. How to kill. To not trust anyone. I thought she was insane, her training techniques. Ruthless...I couldn't stay, not with her that way." Amethyst said the last sentence so low, Michonne wondered if she had began talking to herself. "I loved her. She was my big sister. But I knew the only way those kids would be safe is if she was no longer with any of them, warping their minds into who she became. Alexander, he's not really my brother, but he became my brother during that time. He didn't want me to go alone. So we left. Traveled around looking for a safe harborâkilled a lot of biters. Killed a lot of people..." Amethyst's eyes found Michonne's with this statement. Would this change how kind she's been treated? "I don't have anywhere to go...So what do I do now?" Amethyst instantly shut down, armoring herself with a cold and firm demeanor.
Michonne heard and felt the helplessness in this question. She also knew Amethyst wouldn't beg for a handout. A woman alone with her brother and a new baby. Does she kick her out, send her with supplies and hope for the best? Life has been so awful to Michonne, bringing people into her life who she grew to care for just to snatch them away like some sick joke. But for some reason, Michonne liked Amethyst. She didn't know why, or the depths, but she liked her.
"You'll stay with us. After all, our girls are twins right?" Michonne smirked, bringing a lightness to a very dark and somber mood.
Amethyst stared for what seemed like an eternity, piercing Michonne with those eyes. Michonne's breathing slowed. She felt a slight faltering under the weight of Amethyst's stare. She didn't know why but she wanted her in her life.
Please say yes...There was no reason for this internal desperate plea from Michonne and, yet, it was the only answer she wanted to hear.
After a bout of silence, "are you sure your husband won't mind me, my brother, and two new babies?" Amethyst asked.
Michonne knew Rick would protest but she would deal with that later. "It's fine. He'll do whatever I say." Michonne banked on his love for her but she knew he would be furious.
Amethyst bit her bottom lip, weighing the decision to go it alone or stay in a community of strangers. It's been so long since she'd trusted anyone yet she felt at peace with Michonne. She had a new baby to think about, and her brother. They wouldn't make it long on the road before someone found them who wasn't as kind as Michonne and the community.
"Okay" Amethyst stated, "but can you wait until me and Ruby are out of the house before you argue about your poor decision with your husband?" she smirked.
Michonne chuckled, knowing she was right about the arguments but knowing it would be worth it.
"Welcome to the Commonwealth!"